Basic HTML Version
WHAT'S WRONG
WITH
OURWEATHER?
by
Dan C. Taylor
Are climates changing? Scientists may theorize.
But what are the
real
causes behind today's weatber upsets?
N
OTHING
has
such a vital
physical im–
pact on human be–
ings as the weath–
er.
P ast civilizations
have risen or fallen
on the fort u nes of
good or bad weather.
Yet, for the mos t
part, today's genera–
tion has come to take
the largely tranquil ,
predictable weather
of the mid-20th cen–
tury for granted.
debate that has raged
for more than a decade,
climatologists have ar–
gued over whether or
not the earth has
passed the peak of a
warm, stable cycle of
weather patterns. ls it
now entering a more
unpredictable period?
This seems to be espe–
cial l y true of th e
Northern Hemisphere.
Among the propos–
als now being carefully
monitored is the role of
sunspot activity in di-
~
rcctly affecting our
~
temperatures here on
~
earth. Sunspot act ivity
~
reaches its peak at the
:;; end of an 11. 2-ycar
!
cycle. The last sunspot
Few realize today
that the period from
191
O
to 1960 ís consid–
ered to be the most
unusuaJ ly good run of
weather experienced in
the history of climatol–
ogy.
SEVERE winter ffooding forced thousands to flee from their homes in
Monroe, Louisiana.
max imum was in 1979.
The sun's temperature
is actua11y cooler dur–
ing a sunspot maxi–
As global temperatures slowly
rose in the first par t of the 20th
century, so did agricultura! output.
By the 1950s, yields were unprece–
dentedly hígh. In the 1960s the so–
called green revolutíon was under
way. Spurred on by new hybrid
seed, chemicaJ fertíli zers and rela–
tively stable climate, world hunger
seemed to be on its way to being a
thing of the past.
But something happened in the
last few years that was unexpected.
Our climates have become more
variable and extreme. Droughts are
followed by floods. And the hopes
Aprll 1983
that were pinned on the agr icultu–
ra! miracles of the '60s have van–
ished. Is there indeed a soon-com–
ing crisis in our weather? If so,
why?
Why a Change in t he Weather?
I t is accepted by cl imatologists that
climatic change can result, in gen–
eral, from variations in the earth's
solar orbit. These slight modifica–
tions produce alternating periods of
relatively warm, stable clímate then
frigid, unstable ones.
Sorne scientists note that there
may be other factors that may
bring about climatic change. In a
mum and therefore the earth
becomes coo1er.
Others are studying vo1canic
clouds- such as that resulting from
the Mexican volcano, El Chichón,
in March 1982- and indust r ial pol–
lution. Even soi l particles can be
suspended high in the atmosphere
and there create a thin !ayer of
reflective substances that block out
sorne of the sun's warming rays.
Still another area of concern is
the simple fact that cold weather
begets more cold weather. For
instance, for a si ngle day in J anuary
1982, 75 percent of North America
was covered with snow. 1982 went
5